Attendance success for gamescom and inagural devcom

Figures released by gamescom organiser and venue, Koelnmesse, have said that the 2017 show was the largest ever.

According to the figures over 350,000 people visited the show, with 30,700 trade visitors alone and a record 919 companies were represented. The show was the most internationally reaching show with visitors coming from over 106 countries. The show itself was opened by German Chancellor, Dr Angela Merkel.

In addition to the gamescom show, the inaugural devcom, a conference event for game developers, was also a success. Replacing GDC Europe, the new show started just before gamescom and attracted over 3000 visitors and held 140 sessions over the course of the week. Keynote speakers included Epic Games' Tim Sweeny, developer Richard Garriott and PlayerUnknown himself, Brendan Greene.

"gamescom 2017 set new standards and a new visitor record, said Koelnmesse GmbH CEO, Gerald Böse. "More than ever, it proved its exceptional, worldwide importance as a 360 degree experience event and a leading communications platform for current and future themes of the computer and video games industry. We are very satisfied and are pleased that we were able to offer trade and private visitors the fascination of digital entertainment here in Cologne in this extraordinary form."

“The inaugural devcom was a resounding success," added managing director of the German Games Industry Association (BIU), Felix Falk. "With our flexible and innovative approach we managed to find a strong audience among game developers and made a great addition to the gamescom week. We look forward to build upon this success next year and use the feedback from this year to make devcom 2018 even better.”